Excuse Me, Have You Seen Al or Edward Elric?
by Lovely Moonlight Maiden
Summary: Vanessa is a crossdressing 17yearold with the secret of Ed and Al's father. Did he really abandon them? Obviously not, if I'm asking, duh Vanessa and her mother want the Elrics to know the truth. The problem? She can't get a hold of them!AUwritten before
1. 1

A very short fic, guys. It's only going to be 4 chapters, possibly 5, but every chapter is 8 pages or more on MS Word. There's a character I introduced, but I've been very careful to keep the Mary-Sue factor WAAAAAY down. So, Read, review, check out my other fan-fictions. Lol.

* * *

Edward and Alphonse Elric believe their father abandoned them along with their mother when they were very young. It was a reason to be sad or angry or vengeful anytime they needed it. But they were wrong.

Hohenheim Elric had been a state alchemist. In the beginning, everything was alright. He was given orders, he followed them, and reported the moment they were complete. But eventually those orders became more demanding, more violent, more fatal. Hohenheim was a man of conviction, and began smudging words on his mission reports. He hid the parts that said, "I let him escape; he didn't deserve to die" and "I saw no illegal activities and did not administer punishment."

This did not go unnoticed for very long before Hohenheim knew something was going to happen. So he ran away.

Hohenheim cover his tracks perfectly. He left before any verdict could be reached over his guilt; his family still received a monthly paycheck. A friend of his covered for him in the beginnings of the Ishbal Massacre. His left index finger was "all that was found" of him.

He stayed in the basement of a friend of someone he'd "killed" without ever harming. When her received word of his wife's death six months after it happened, he killed himself in misery over not having been a better husband and father.

The woman he'd saved turned to her daughter as soon as she found out what had happened. "This man saved my life," She said to her, "Without him, you would be an orphan. We owe telling his children the truth of what happened to him."

"We do," She replied, brushing her fingers through slightly tangled black hair. "What are we going to do?"

"I want you to take them his possessions. Take his wedding band and silver watch. Take the book he wrote. Understand?"

"Yes, Mother."

"Don't let anyone know who you are. Don't compromise our situation."

"What am I supposed to do?"

"I'm going to cut your hair and bind your chest. You will play the part of a young boy. Can you do that?"

"Yes, Mother."

"Very good. Remember to tell simple lies that will hide your identity. You're not from the city, but the country. Not a girl but a boy. Not a mother but a father. Remember things like that. And please return to me safely, Vanessa."

"Yes, Mother."

* * *

"Brother, what did Colonel Mustang want?" Al asked curiously as Ed stormed out of Roy Mustang's office.

"Nhhhhh, Godd-m m-th-r-fu-ing cow," Ed replied under his breath.

"I didn't hear you, Brother," Al said a bit anxiously, taking cues from Ed's mood.

"I _said_ 'that goddamn mother-fucking cow!" Ed shouted, slamming the front door of the expansive building open.

"Brother!" Al admonished, embarrassed. "What happened?" he prodded quietly a moment later.

"I have to do some heavy-duty patrolling on some stupid government building. I'll be working twelve hours a day, just standing out there in the cold and the rain!"

"Brother, it's summer."

"Shut up, Al."

"How long will you be on guard duty?"

"Three months," He replied miserably. "This is exactly the kind of thing that makes me want to quit again! I'm not some obedient military dog..." Ed continued rambling to himself, a few choice words pronounced louder than others.

Al sighed and began thinking.

_I guess we always knew what was going to happen. Ed wasn't going to get sent out on stupid missions all the time. It was only a matter of where and when. Things are going to be more serious from now on. We won't have the time to be leisurely and relaxed. I'm going to be the only one able to look for the Philosopher's Stone. I don't want to leave Brother, but I don't want to give up on the Stone either. What am I going to do?_

"Al, you alright?" Ed asked, apparently done being angry.

"I was just thinking, what's going to happen with looking for the Philosopher's stone?"

"Well, I'll be busy a lot more, so you'll be free to do research."

"Is that what you want me to do?"

"I guess so. I mean, we can't just drop everything for three months, you know?"

"You're right," Al admitted reluctantly.

"What's your problem then?" Ed probed somewhat harshly.

"You and I never spend time apart, Brother! It's just so..."

"Yeah, I get it, Al. It's okay. But nothing's gunna happen to either of us. We're big kids now, right? Nothing to worry about."

"I guess you're right. I'm being silly again."

"Oi, I said it's okay, so just drop it already."

"Alright, Brother."

* * *

"Oh damn," Ed groaned, groping for his alarm clock. He remembered to set his alarm, forgot he had to get to bed early enough to be alert when he reported at 4 A.M.

Ed turned off the alarm and rolled out of bed. He turned on the light and was temporarily blinded by the sudden change. He squinted after a painful moment and eventually opened his eyes normally. He tugged on the uncomfortable uniform he'd been given and wolfed down a banana before quietly leaving the apartment and heading towards the head office building of the department of foreign affairs.

He strode down the empty streets and contemplated the eerie calm. There was no doubt about it; 3:45 A.M. was definitely not his favorite time of day. He approached his destination and was met by none other than Major Armstrong.

"Hello Fullmetal. Feeling energetic this morning, I see," the large man greeted.

"I'll be okay once I get into the routine. What exactly do I have to do here?"

"At exactly 4 A.M. I'm going to hand you this riffle. You will be expected to stay here for five and three fourths of an hour, when a fifteen-minute relief team will come in. Hand your firearm off to an aide. There'll be food in the main hall, eat then. Do whatever you have to just so long as you're back within your fifteen minutes. Then you take back your weapon and present arms for attendance. At the end of your shift, I'll be back and you'll hand your riffle to me."

"Thanks. How do I know I have the same time as the inspector though?"

"Every state alchemist's watch is completely synchronized. They didn't choose a pocket watch out of a hat you know."

"I see," Ed responded softly. He flipped his watch open and watched the second hand pass the '9'.

"Get ready," Armstrong warned, "These soldiers have been here 12 hours, and they're ready to kill if it'll get them out of here faster."

"What am I supposed to be?"

A whistle blew somewhere inside the chain of guards and guns were practically thrown at the second shift. Men and women stampeded away with no dignity or reserve whatsoever. Ed's foot was trampled several times and he nearly got swept backwards by the swarm of people.

"Jesus! Freaking animals!" Ed limped into his position and held the gun on his left side the way he'd seen military people do.

Edward stood erect and managed to stay that way for nearly five hours. After that, he started slouching. No one could have been happier to have fifteen minutes of freedom. It was 9:45 and he was only half way done. He inhaled a bagel sandwich and glass of orange juice before returning outside to his post to be sure he'd be ready when his fifteen minutes were up.

* * *

At ten o'clock, Al woke up peacefully. It was an unfamiliar sensation. He had the urge to bang on Ed's door to make sure he was awake before he remembered Ed was on guard duty. He sighed sadly and pondered things he could possibly do for the day. He supposed the first thing he could do was find unread books of alchemy.

There were piles of books in Ed's room. He barreled through them, but it took Al a little longer to read the texts and sufficiently remember them, so he began looking there. He stretched out on Ed's bed and began reading one, feeling somewhat happy to have quiet to concentrate.

At three, Al put a bookmark on his page and started cleaning. Ed would be home in an hour, and Al wanted everything to be perfect.

* * *

Vanessa walked uncertainly through the streets of Holbrook. Was she boyish enough? Was she walking too gracefully? Too crassly? What about her posture, her expression? She was utterly terrified when anyone glanced her way. Years of experience still didn't leave her assured of her masculinity.

She didn't have much to worry about; there wasn't much to identify her as a girl. She hadn't had much of a bosom to begin with, but combined with having strips of cotton wrapped around her torso, she was unrecognizable as a girl. Her clothes helped as well.

That day she was wearing loose black pants tied high on her waist, which helped hide her definitely female hips. Her shirt was loose, but not oversized. Vanessa noted with fear or satisfaction that most of the people looking at her were girls. That had to be a good sign as far as her appearance as a male went.

Her thoughts shifted to the bag she was carrying on her right shoulder as she waved at a group of schoolgirls. She'd read the book Hohenheim had written many times. It was about the Philosopher's Stone.

_The guy was always talking about that damn thing. Why was it so important to him? He couldn't practice alchemy in case someone would find him. There had to be something...I wonder if Edward and Alphonse know._

There was no question about it. Vanessa was dying to know why the Stone weighed so greatly in Hohenheim's mind. She sighed and trudged onward towards Central. She'd heard from an old woman by name of Pinako and her granddaughter Winrey that the Elric brothers would be there. She hoped they were right. She was sick of traveling to do a favor for her mother.

* * *

Ed artfully dodged everyone in the four o'clock crowd. He was only two weeks from being done with his guarding stint, and he regarded it with joy and wariness.

Something the seemed too good to be true probably was, and quitting military service cold turkey seemed like one of them. He yawned broadly as he reflected on that and waited for the inspector to come around so he could relax a bit.

Ed felt something in his body that day. Something was going to happen. He wasn't sure what, but he knew for sure it would. He pondered it slightly, as he had nothing else to do, and knew that whatever was going to happen would, no matter where he was.

* * *

"Oh man. This is so stupid!" Vanessa cried after she looked at the train schedule.

There were five stops with the word "Central" in them. She was doomed. She yelled an unintelligible phrase and dropped to the ground. She wasn't going to ever find the Elrics, and she wasn't ever going to find her way back home, even if she could return without having passed on Hohenheim's possessions.

"Hey! Victor!"

Vanessa heard a familiar voice, but many girls did have the same voice. She looked around, but didn't see anyone she could identify.

"Victor! It's me, Winrey!" Winrey beamed down at Vanessa. "In a little trouble? Grandma thought you might but you'd already blown out of town, so she sent me to come help you!"

"I have never been so happy to see anyone as I am to see you right now," Vanessa replied in the deeper male-voice she used in public.

Winery blushed slightly, and Vanessa was a little surprised. She realized she was a good-looking man, but didn't think she could be mistaken for flirting. She was always careful to avoid that.

"So what Central am I going to?" Vanessa asked in her best 'I'm pretending you don't exist' voice.

"Well, we're going to plain Central as our first try." Winrey responded, glancing thoughtfully up and the board of train stations.

"We?" Vanessa asked a bit nervously.

"Yeah, I haven't seen Ed or Al for a long time, so I figured I'd come along too, if it doesn't bother you."

"Oh, well, I'm not much of a people person," Vanessa said. She blanched when Winrey's face fell. "But, you know, everybody has to try something new. I don't mind a traveling companion. Besides, I don't want to get stuck again."

"Really? Great! So let's get our tickets and get out of here!" Winrey was bright and cheerful again, and Vanessa felt a bit hot in her face.

One thing Vanessa couldn't stand to do was hurt someone's feelings. It could have been her upbringing, it could have been her feminine nature, or it could have been something else entirely, but it had gotten her into plenty of bad situations over the past seven years.

"So, Winrey," Vanessa began as they settled down in their seats, "Where are we going to go if the Elrics aren't in Central?"

"They're there. Al wrote me a letter not too long ago; Ed has some kind of military duty keeping him there."

"Thank god!" Vanessa cheered and relaxed in her seat. "You have no idea how long I've been looking for them! I can't believe this crap is finally over!"

"I've meant to ask you about that," Winrey began conversationally, "Why have you been looking for them? Why didn't you just quit and go home?"

"Because...it's complicated," Vanessa sighed, "But long story short, I knew their father, and I have some things to give them from him."

"Their...father?" Winrey blinked in disbelief. "That no good bastard is trying to make peace now! Where was he nine years ago? What about seven? What was he doing when his family needed him?"

"Winrey, don't talk about him like that. I can't tell you all the details; it's a very touchy matter, especially with state alchemists crawling around. I can say this, however: Hohenheim Elric was a good man. He was forced to leave home and he did his best to provide for them. He's not 'trying to make peace,' he died. He heard about his wife's death and killed himself. I'm giving his things to the Elric brothers out of respect and debt of Hohenheim. That's all I can ever tell you about it."

"Was their father an undercover spy?" Winrey asked quietly, leaning foreword in anticipation.

"In a way," Vanessa replied carefully.

"Wow," Winrey breathed, "Wow. I bet Ed wouldn't be so angry if he knew that."

"He's going to know it as soon as I can find him. It just seems like I get somewhere and as soon as I do I find out they left a week earlier! It's been hell!"

"I bet it has, especially for a guy like you."

"What do you mean, a guy like me?"

"Well you're, I mean, you're just kind of..." Winrey blushed madly, "Kind of pretty. That's all."

Vanessa let out a short laugh. "I'm 'pretty,' am I? Well I guess it's lucky for me there aren't many gay rapists, right?"

Winrey laughed with Vanessa for a moment before she sat back in her seat.

"So what were you doing before you started looking for Ed and Al? Are you going to do that again after you find them?"

"Well, my...father and I own a smithy in our village. We make specialty items, like missing pieces of auto-mail, or lost pieces of other machinery. It's good business, alright. And yeah, I think I am going to completely take over once I get back. My Pa is probably having a hard time with just him and his old age to do the work."

"Hey, we kind of do the same thing! I'm an auto-mail specialist, but I can fix anything on Earth!" Winrey grinned gloatingly.

"How much profit does that offer in a small town?" Vanessa asked curiously, forgetting that she was supposed to offer a similar service in a similar setting.

"Enough that I'm considering opening up another shop there in Central!"

"I wonder how business in Central is?" Vanessa pondered.

"Oh Victor! It's amazing! Every storeowner there is rich! There's so many people who need so many goods and services! Do you think you'll make a location there as well?"

"I don't know. Maybe getting away from the sadness at home and moving everything here would be a good idea."

"Hey, We'd better get some sleep. Central is a big city, I don't think we'll just find someone waiting for us at the station since we're unannounced and everything."

"Good idea." Vanessa was silent for a moment, wondering what kind of person Winrey was. "Winrey, can I ask a favor of you?" She finally asked.

"Sure, Victor."

"If I wake you up because I'm in a nightmare, please wake me."

"I will," Winrey promised.


	2. 2

"Fullmetal, you okay?" Major Armstrong asked, seeing the odd glint in Ed's eyes.

"This is my last day, you know," Ed said in a dark voice. "I'm only twelve hours away from total freedom."

"Yes, that could be true," Armstrong replied warily, "But don't be surprised if you're not free for long."

"Major, _nothing_ can keep me here once that whistle goes off. I'll be a free man. So just get ready to hand me that gun, cause it's the last time you'll ever do it."

"All right, Fullmetal. Just don't say I didn't warn you."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever."

The end of shift whistle blew and Ed took his gun from Major Armstrong without complaint.

* * *

Al sighed dreamily. He had been counting days to the end of Ed's stint more closely than Ed himself was.

Al had caught up on all of the books Ed had read and he hadn't, and had also checked new material out from the local library, but he couldn't find any more clues pertaining to the Philosopher's Stone.

On top of needing help looking for the Stone, on top of being bored, Al was lonely. He'd written Winrey often, but she hadn't replied to his last letter. He couldn't think of why. He didn't think he'd accidentally upset her, and that lead him to believe something had to be wrong, and then he began worrying.

"Al, get ready to go," Ed said grimly as he walked in the door.

"Brother! You're home early!"

"Yeah, Mustang caught me during our break. We have to go to a city in the west, we have to do an investigation."

"What's wrong, Brother?" Al asked, noting his brother's expression.

"He thinks someone there knows about our father."

"Brother, is this the kind of investigation we're allowed to perform?"

"He said he knows our father isn't there, but...we're only arresting the people who have something to do with him."

"How does the Colonel know he's not there? If he'd already gone then wouldn't he have made the arrests?"

"He didn't have time. He gave me a list. It's short."

"Alright, Brother. Let's go now."

* * *

"Christopher, state alchemists are coming. I want you to know that when they get here, I'll die. Hide all of my money for me, and hide this note. When Vanessa returns, give all of it to her. If you're asked any questions at all, tell them Vanessa died from an illness seven years ago, understand?" Vanessa's mother Melinda instructed a neighbor, handing him every asset she had.

"I understand, Melinda. I'll make sure everything is taken care of after your death. I won't let anything happen to your daughter, either."

"Thank you, Christopher. You're an angel," Melinda said, turning out of his back door. "By the way, make sure if you're interrogated, it's perfectly clear that you hated me."

"I will, Lindy. You're the bravest woman I've ever met."

"Well then you obviously haven't met my daughter!" She replied haughtily and went back to work in at the smithy.

* * *

"Central Station now un-boarding, Central Station, now un-boarding," a soft female voice announced over the trains P.A.

"Well, that's us," Winrey said cheerfully, pulling down her bag from the luggage rack.

"Yeah, I guess so," Vanessa replied, also reaching for her bag.

"What's it like knowing you're about to be finished with your mission?" Winrey inquired.

"I don't really know yet. It hasn't quite sunk in that I don't have to go around asking, 'Have you seen Edward Elric lately?' anymore."

Vanessa and Winrey laughed together and exited the train.

* * *

"Colonel Mustang, it's me, Winrey Rockbell, Ed and Al's friend?"

"Are you looking for Fullmetal?" He asked without looking up from his paperwork.

"Yeah, Al said Ed was busy here but we can't find either of them."

"We?" Roy looked up and saw a boy standing next to Winrey. He narrowed his eyes carefully. "Boy, are you Ishbalan?"

"My mother was, but she's not with us anymore. I don't have anything against alchemists, if that's what you're wondering. I'm just trying to find the Elric brothers, so please tell me they're under our noses."

"Afraid not. I sent Ed on an emergency mission in the west, that's all I can tell you. I'm sure Al went with him. They left a few hours ago."

"Victor? You okay?" Winrey asked, turning to her companion. "Victor, are you...crying?"

"No I'm not! I'm laughing at my own damn luck! ARGH!"

"You'd better go make sure your friend there doesn't jump off of a building or something," Mustang said humorlessly and turned back to his work.

* * *

"Our luck, Al, _our luck_. A four-day train trip. I _hate_ trains. Something always gets screwed up when we travel by train," Ed complained loudly to Al.

"Take it easy, Brother. We don't want to cause any trouble."

"Yeah, you midget ape! Keep your cool, why don't you?"

"Who...are you calling SHORT!" Ed fumed at the man across the isle from him and went into a tirade about his height.

* * *

"Well, how are we supposed to find them now?" Winrey asked Vanessa, who was banging her head backwards against the wall.

"You're asking _me_?"

"You do seem to be the resident expert on tracking them down."

"Expert? Expert! If I were an expert, would we be here? No. No!"

"But whining about it isn't going to help any."

"Yeah, you're right. Tell me, is the train station we just came from the only one in Central?"

"Yes, it is."

"Then that makes it a lot easier, especially with you around!"

"Me?"

"Sure! How could I describe two people I've never met?"

"I guess so! So are we going back to the station now?"

"Yes, we are."

"Okay, mon Capitan!"

"You're so weird, Winrey. In a good way."

* * *

"Melinda Worshel, My name is Edward Elric, the Fullmetal Alchemist. I'm with the state; I'd like to ask you a few questions," Ed said, knocking on the blacksmith's door.

"Ask anything you want," Melinda replied with the kind of tone that implied, 'but you won't get much of an answer'.

"Did you ever come into contact with one...Hohenheim Elric?"

"I did," she said indignantly.

"And what were the circumstances of this meeting?"

"He was supposed to kill me."

"Why didn't he do it?"

"Because your father was a good man, boys. I never did anything wrong."

"What is your relationship with Hohenheim Elric?" Ed continued stoically.

"I kept him safe, right under everyone's noses."

"What do you mean, 'kept him safe'?"

"The officials above him were going to kill him for saving people he was supposed to kill, like me. He ran away from home to protect his family from getting hurt when the military came after him."

"That's a _lie_!" Ed shouted viciously.

"Brother," Al warned gently.

"Hohenheim wrote letters to you boys. I said I'd mailed them, but never did. I couldn't be too careful. But this is it, boys, this stack right here. This is your father's legacy."

Melinda held out a box of carefully stacked envelopes to Ed. Al was the one who took it.

"Don't you have a daughter? Where is she?"

"Vanessa died seven years ago."

"Melinda Worshel, you're under arrest by the State for sheltering a runaway."

"I had a feeling you'd let it go down this way, boys. I'm sorry you have to see this, but I simply can't be taken."

She pulled a handgun from one of the thick leather pockets of her apron, put it in her mouth, and pulled the trigger. She was dead before she hit the ground.

"Don't look, Al. She's dead. Let's hope we have a little more luck with the neighbors."

"Brother...we just killed her."

"That was her decision. She would have been killed anyway. Just don't think about it too much, or it'll start to hurt."

"Alright," Al said. He sounded somewhat monotonic.

"Christopher Nichols?"

"That's me," Melinda's friend replied guardedly. "What's your problem?"

"Did you ever come into contact with Hohenheim Elric?"

"Name's not familiar, but I'm sure I did if you're talking about that guy the blacksmith hid."

"Where is he now?"

"He's six feet under, kid. He killed himself after his wife died."

"Don't call me a kid. What was your involvement with him?"

"I didn't have any. I saw him twice; once the day he came in to kill that bitch of a blacksmith and the second when he went to her house for protection."

"Thank you for your cooperation."

"Sure thing, kid."

* * *

"Eustace Mill?"

"Yes, son?" asked the old man who had actually hidden Hohenheim.

"What was your involvement with Hohenheim Elric?"

"I only saw him twice. Once when he went after Melinda, and the second when he came to hide in her basement."

"Thank you for your cooperation."

Every person they visited had the same thing to say: They had seen him two times; Melinda had hidden him. The only variance was the various degrees of dislike for Melinda. Melinda was the only suspect, and she was dead.

* * *

"This is my...my...this is where my mother lives. She ran the same type of shop here in Buket while Pa and I had the one in the village where he was born, but I came here pretty often," Vanessa covered, to explain anyone she knew to Winrey. Keeping a companion was _definitely_ on her 'Dumb things I did' list.

"So your parents are divorced?" Winrey asked interestedly.

"Yes," Vanessa replied bitterly. Divorce was perhaps less cruel thn the truth.

"I'm sorry to hear that. It's good you got to see them both."

"Yeah. Hey, something's not right."

"What is it?"

"The billows are out. No smoke."

Vanessa ran to the shop and looked inside and found only darkness. She threw the door open.

"Mom?" She shouted, looking around desperately.

There was a splash under her foot, she looked down, and saw blood.

"Oh my god...Winrey, follow me."

"Where's your mom? What's going on?"

"Just hush up and follow me."

Vanessa grabbed Winrey's arm and ran through the street and up to Christopher's apartment.

"Christopher! It's me, Victor! Open up!" she shouted loudly, out of anxiety but also so everyone would know what to call her.

"Victor, bad news," Christopher said sadly, opening the door wide. "You'd better come in."

* * *

"Fullmetal Alchemist? He killed her?" Vanessa questioned after hearing Christopher's recount of the morning's events.

"I don't know exactly what happened. She said state alchemists would be by, and she would die when they were. She didn't want anyone to know anything about anyone else."

"Who are you two talking about? Is there something I should know, Victor?"

"Winrey, maybe you should wait for me outside," Vanessa suggested uneasily.

"I guess..." Winrey got up and stood outside, but she left the door cracked open enough to hear the conversation inside.

"Vanessa, your mother gave me some things to give to you. She left you everything, but some things she wanted to make sure you got immediately."

"Chris, do we have to do this _now_?"

"Vanessa, listen to yourself! You've got to get out of your body and look at this the right way. They think her daughter died seven years ago, so how are you doing to explain yourself? How are you going to explain having Hohenheim's personal possessions? Think about all of that!"

"Right, sorry, it's just not often someone becomes an orphan, you know."

"I know. But you've gotta take it easy. Those boys blew out of town already. So take this letter and money from your mother and do what you have to do."

"Thanks, Chris. I'll be back, don't worry. They wouldn't do anything to me, not so long as I have that girl out there. She's an old friend of theirs."

"Can you trust her?"

"I...don't know. I haven't told her anything, but I've come close to some bad blunders."

"It'll turn out better if someone else knows the whole truth."

"I hope you're right. I don't want to die yet."

"Go easy, kid."

"You too, old timer."


End file.
